Recovery Plan for Liatris helleri Heller’s Blazing Star U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region Atlanta, Georgia RECOVERY PLAN for Liatris helleri (Heller’s Blazing Star) Original Approved: May 1, 1989 Original Prepared by: Nora Murdock and Robert D. Sutter FIRST REVISION Prepared by Nora Murdock Asheville Field Office U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Asheville, North Carolina for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region Atlanta, Georgia Approved: Regional Director, U S Fish’and Wildlife Service Date:______ Recovery plans delineate reasonable actions that are believed to be required to recover andlor protect listed species. Plans published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) are sometimes prepared with the assistance ofrecovery teams, contractors, State agencies, and other affected and interested parties. Plans are reviewed by the public and submitted to additional peer review before they are adopted by the Service. Objectives of the plan will be attained and any necessary funds made available subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved, as well as the need to address other priorities. Recovery plans do not obligate other parties to undertake specific tasks and may not represent the views or the official positions or approval of any individuals or agencies involved in developing the plan, other than the Service. Recovery plans represent the official position ofthe Service only after they have been signed by the Director or Regional Director as approved. Approved recovery plans are subject to modification as dictated by new findings, changes in species status, and the completion of recovery tasks. By approving this recovery plan, the Regional Director certifies that the data used in its development represent the best scientific and commercial information available at the time it was written. Copies of all documents reviewed in the development ofthe plan are available in the administrative record located at the Asheville Field Office in Asheville, North Carolina. Literature citations should read as follows: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 1999. Recovery Plan for Liatris helleri Porter (Heller’s Blazing Star). First Revision. Atlanta, GA. 25 pp. Additional copies may be purchased from: Fish and Wildlife Reference Service 5430 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 110 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 Phone: 301/492-6403 or 800/582-3421 Fees for recovery plans vary, depending on the number of pages. The illustration on page 3 of this plan was completed by Ms. Susan Sizemore. ii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Current Status: Heller’s blazing star is federally listed as a threatened species. It is currently known from only eight locations, all in North Carolina. Declines have been noted at three ofthese eight sites within the last 10 years and this plant has not been found at two additional historically occupied sites for over 50 years. Habitat Requirements and Limiting Factors: This rare perennial (plant with a life span greater than two years) grows on high cliffs, rock outcrops, ledges, and grassy balds (mountain summits with little to no trees) in the Blue Ridge Mountains (a mountain range extending from south Pennsylvania to north Georgia, part ofthe Appalachians), where it is threatened by recreational and residential development, trampling, collection, and acid precipitation and other forms of atmospheric pollution that have been found to be concentrated at higher elevations in the Southern Appalachians. Recovery Objective: Delisting. Recovery Criteria: Heller’s blazing star will be considered recovered when there are at least nine self-sustaining populations in existence within the species’ historical range that are protected to such a degree that the species no longer meets the definition ofa threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). (A self-sustaining population is a reproducing population that is large enough to maintain sufficient genetic variation to enable it to survive and respond to natural habitat changes. The number ofindividuals necessary and the quantity and quality ofhabitat needed to meet these criteria will be determined as one ofthe recovery tasks.) Heller’s blazing star will be considered for delisting from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants when the following criteria are met: 1. The eight extant populations are protected. 2. Any necessary management actions have been undertaken for these populations by the landowners or cooperating agencies and it has been documented that this management is successfully ensuring the continued survival ofthese populations. 3. Through introduction and/or discovery ofnew populations, at least one additional self-sustaining population exists within the species’ historical range (it is believed that at least nine populations are required to ensure that the species will not become endangered in the foreseeable future). 4. All nine populations and their habitat are protected from present and foreseeable human-related and natural threats that may interfere with their survival. iii Actions Needed: 1. Survey suitable habitat for additional populations. 2. Monitor and protect existing populations. 3. Conduct research on the biology of and threats to the species. 4. Establish new populations or rehabilitate marginal populations to the point where they are self-sustaining. 5. Investigate and conduct necessary management activities at all key sites. 6. Obtain public and landowner support through educational outreach. Cost ($OOO~s): Year I Need 11 Need 2 I Need3 I Need 4 I Need5 I Need6 I Total ] FY 1 4.0 2.5 28.5 5.0 2.0 2.0 44.0 FY2 --- 2.0 25.0 15.0 2.0 1.0 45.0 FY 3 --- 1.5 25.0 20.0 10.0 1.0 57.5 — — —— — ~ — TOTAL 4.0 6.0 78.5 40.0 14.0 4.0 146.5 Date of Recovery: The delisting date cannot be estimated at this time. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PART I: [NTRODUCTION 1 Current and Historical Distribution 1 Description 1 Habitat 4 Ecology and Life History 4 Threats and Population Limiting Factors 6 Conservation Efforts 7 PART II: RECOVERY 10 A. Recovery Objective and Criteria 10 B. Narrative Outline 11 C. Literature Cited 17 PART III: IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE 19 PART IV: LIST OF RECIPIENTS 23 v PART I INTRODUCTION Heller’s blazing star (Liatris helleri), described by T. C. Porter in 1891 (Porter 1891), is a rare plant endemic (native) to a limited area in the Blue Ridge Mountains ofNorth Carolina. Due to its rarity and vulnerability to threats, the species was federally listed as threatened on November 19, 1987 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1987). Heller’s blazing star is officially listed as threatened by the State ofNorth Carolina under the provisions ofits Plant Protection and Conservation Act (General Statute 19b106-202.12- 202.19, 1979). The first recovery plan for Heller’s blazing star was completed in May 1989 (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1989). Implementation ofthe recovery actions specified in that plan generated additional site, life history, and population information. In addition, habitat protection efforts resulted in some level ofprotection for five of the eight extant populations. This revision reflects these accomplishments and incorporates the latest information in updating recovery objectives and tasks. Current and Historical Distribution Only eight populations of Heller’s blazing star are now known to exist (all in North Carolina)--three in Avery County, one in Caldwell County, one in Burke County, and three in Ashe County. Although we do not have specific historical data on the number of plants at these locations, declines have been noted at three ofthe eight extant sites within the last 10 years. Two additional sites were known to have been occupied by the species historically; however, both areas have undergone extensive residential and recreational development since the original collections. Despite numerous searches, no plants have been found at these sites in over 50 years. Description Heller’s blazing star is 1 of about 40 species in the native North American genus (a group ofclosely related species) Liatris. The taxonomy (classification of organisms based on genetic similarities) ofthis group is complex and is sometimes complicated by natural hybridization (creating new plants from genetically dissimilar parent plants), occasionally between species that are not closely related (Cronquist 1980, Small 1933, Gaiser 1946). Other common names applied to the genus include button snakeroot, rattlesnake master, arid gay feather. The genus is within the large and equally complex aster family (Asteraceae). Heller’ s blazing star is a perennial herb that grows from a cormlike rootstock (underground stem) 2.0 to 5.0 centimeters (cm) (0.8 to 2.0 inches (in)) broad. (See illustration on page 3.) One or more erect or arching stems arise from a tuft ofnarrow pale green basal (growing from the base of a stem) leaves. The stems reach up to 4.0 decimeters (15.7 in) in height and are topped by a showy spike (the flowering part of a plant with flowers along a long axis, close to the stem) oflavender flowers 7.0 to 20.0 cm (2.8 to 7.9 in) long. The stems, usually stiffly erect, are proximally (towards the base) purplish, distally (towards the top) green, strongly ribbed, and angulate (angled). Both basal and cauline (on the stem) leaves are numerous, with those at the stem base and on short offshoots the longest, often 2.0 to 3.0 decimeters (7.9 to 11.8 in) long. The flat leaf blades are linear-oblanceolate (tapering towards the base, shaped like a lance), elliptic-linear or linear, acute (having a sharp point), entire, tapering gradually to slender, erect, ribbed petioles (stalk ofleaf attaches to the stem). The surfaces are scatteringly punctate (dotted with depressions) and equally pale green, with only the midrib (central rib ofa leaf) prominent. The leaves toward the top of the stem become erect and gradually reduced in their length and width, with the petioles becoming shorter and winged; they are often sparsely ciliate (hairy around the margins), gradually grading into the linear bracteal leaves ofthe inflorescence (showly leaves underneath the flowering cluster part ofa plant).